Description:

Presenter: Jason Wang, Caltech
Website: https://jasonwang.space/

Host: Vicky Kalogera, Daniel I. Linzer Distinguished University Professor, CIERA Director

Talk Abstract:
Although thousands of exoplanets have been discovered, only a small fraction have been studied in detail. By spatially resolving planets from their host stars, we can directly characterize them as individual worlds. I will discuss two novel techniques to study directly imaged exoplanets in unprecedented detail: high-dispersion coronagraphy using Keck/KPIC and long-baseline interferometry using VLTI/GRAVITY. I will present early science results from both instruments and new surveys to measure key observables to study the formation of gas giant exoplanets in the outer regions of planetary systems (10-1000 au). The direct characterization of exoplanets is a technology-driven field, and I will highlight upcoming instruments I am involved in that improve on these techniques to study gas-giant exoplanets at 1-10 au, where they are most common, with current telescopes and to look for habitable worlds on the next generation of optical observatories.